Baby E.J.'s Burn
Location: Reno, Nevada Date: January 11, 1990 Story On the evening of January 11, 1990, in Reno, Nevada, Myrna House had invited her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren to her house to have tacos for dinner, while her other daughter, Janelle, and son-in-law, Richard, went to a gym. "After all the kids had the tacos, I relaxed," said Myrna. Her grandchildren went into the recreation room while she prepared her own meal. While Myrna ate her own meal, E.J. followed the dog and tripped on the pot's cord, causing the oil to spill onto him. His aunt heard Myrna's scream and saw that he was soaking wet from his head to his waist. They immediately took him to the bathroom and put him in cold water while her husband called 911. EMT Fire Station 8 only four blocks away were immediately dispatched to the scene. An ambulance from three miles away was also sent there. "The heat that he was radiating was incredible. In fact, my mother's hands got burned very badly because she picked him up with his shirt on and took him to the bathroom," said E.J.'s aunt. She asked her husband to immediately call E.J.'s parents. Richard and Janelle were at the gym five miles away when they received a phone call from Janelle's brother-in-law. "He said, 'You know, Janelle, there's been an accident and E.J.'s been hurt. We've called the ambulance and we need you to come immediately,'" said Janelle. Richard knew there was a problem when he saw the look on Janelle's face. Myrna held E.J. in a wet towel and comforted him saying that help was on the way. The first rescue workers, including firefighter/EMT Joe Lewis, arrived on the scene. "I could find with myself that I can disassociate my feelings from most of the situations I'm involved with, but when children are involved, it effects me," said Joe. He could see the blisters that had developed from the burn were enormous in size, and the weight of the towel had broken some of them off. Two minutes later, paramedic Mike Craft and his partner, John Foster, arrived on the scene. Richard and Janelle arrived just as E.J. was being carried to the ambulance. Mike asked Richard to go in it with him. "E.J. was surprisingly alert. He was crying and 'Mommy, Daddy, owey, owey' is what he kept on saying. We got into the ambulance, and John asked me to hold E.J.," said Richard. Richard held E.J. in his arms to comfort him. Reno has no burn center, so E.J. was airlifted to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas 450 miles away, and put under the care of Dr. Terry Lewis. "E.J.'s burns were both second and third degree, and approximately 35% of his body surface area was burned," said Dr. Lewis. E.J.'s parents stayed with him at his bedside and Dr. Lewis told them that he would be in more pain in seven days. The painful skin graft treatments became a twice daily ritual for E.J. for the next six weeks. "The hardest thing was dealing with his pain and struggle," said Janelle. E.J. went through months of painful physical therapy. "He showed me a lot, too many times when I've had a knee operation or a problem when I moaned getting out of bed," said Richard. Seven months later, E.J. continues to improve based on what they've learned. Richard and Janelle have planned to form a local support group for the families of burn victims. "E.J. today shows really no signs of him being in a traumatic accident. He's a happy loving intelligent wonderful little boy. He just doesn't happen to have any hair on the side of his head," said Janelle. With plastic surgery, most of the scars on E.J.'s head, back, and shoulders can be corrected, but Myrna's emotional wounds are much deeper. "I think the hardest part for me right now is to look at him and his mom and dad, and I think I'm always looking where they might be blaming me for it all. I just never want to see that look in their faces," said Myrna. Since the accident, EMT Joe Lewis became a family friend. "If there's a hero anywhere in this story, I'd have to say that the grandmother is a hero. She took second degree burns to one of her hands and reacted quickly without regard to her own injuries and got him into the bathroom quickly," said Joe. Category:1990 Category:Nevada Category:Burns